RESEARCHERS

Nirupama Soundararajan - Senior Fellow & Head of Research

Nirupama Soundararajan currently works as Head of Research and Senior Fellow at Pahle India Foundation (PIF). She started her research career with the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) where she co-authored the book titled 'Retail in India' (July 2009) published by Academic Foundation. She has worked extensively on the impact of organized retail on farmers. At Pahle India Foundation she undertakes policy research in the financial sector, commodities, gold ecosystem, retail and e-commerce, housing and housing finance, and ease of doing business. Prior to Pahle India Foundation she worked as Additional Director and Team Lead for the Financial Sector Division at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) where she was the lead author on the landmark report on "Why India Needs a Gold Policy." She also worked as Assistant General Manager - Economist in the Department of Strategy and Economic Intelligence with Bank of India, Head Office, Mumbai. She obtained an MSc. in Financial Economics, an MBA (Finance) from Cardiff University, UK, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Financial Law from Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS), University of London.

Nirupama Soundararajan can be reached at nirupama.soundararajan@pahleindia.org

Chidambaran Iyer - Senior Fellow

Chidambaran G. Iyer has a Chemical Engineering degree from Dr. B.A.T.University, Lonere, Maharsahtra. He later on completed his PhD from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai. He has authored the 'Bengaluru Urban District Human Development Report-2014' published by the Government of Karnataka. He has also co-authored studies on the Evaluation of MGNREGS (2011) and the Evaluation of the JnNURM (2013), both for the state of Karnataka. He has also coordinated numerous training programmes as well as international conferences. His work in the Consultancy industry includes a couple of market reports on the North American Specialty Chemical market (2007) and a report on the Indian Organic Chemical market (2009). As a teacher, he has taught multiple courses for post graduate students (PhD, MBA and MSc- Economics) and undergradute students (BBA and BCom). Through his research he tries to map and understand the process of technological change and innovation in the economy and society. Chidambaran has also worked in various roles in the Chemical and Biotechnology industry (1999-2003).

Chidambaran Iyer can be reached at chidambaran.iyer@pahleindia.org

Arindam Goswami - Fellow

Arindam has over 6 years of work experience in policy research and banking. Prior to joining Pahle India Foundation, he had worked with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), CIANS Analytics and HDFC Bank Ltd. During his time at FICCI, he was the co-author of the report on “Why India Needs a Gold Policy?” He holds a master degree in business economics from Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar) and is currently pursuing his post-graduation in finance and financial law from University of London through SOAS. His areas of interest are financial services, commodities and precious metals, domestic trade and development of North East Region (NER)

Arindam Goswami can be reached at arindam.goswami@pahleindia.org

Kannan Kumar - Associate Fellow

Kannan has over 6 years of experience in finance and economics research. Prior to joining Pahle India Foundation, he has worked with BNP Paribas, TCS, and IFMR. He completed his masters in economics from Madras School of Economics. His broad areas of interest include financial markets, electricity trade, Non-tariff measures and services sector.
Kannan Kumar can be reached at kannan.kumar@pahleindia.org

Dnyanada Palkar - Senior Research Associate

Dnyanada Palkar did her B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada. She has three years of experience in research and policy analysis. Prior to joining Pahle India Foundation she has worked with the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), the Delhi Policy Group and the Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC) in New Delhi.

Dnyanada Palkar can be reached at dnyanada.palkar@pahleindia.org

Anupam Hazarika- Senior Research Associate

Anupam Hazarika has been working in the developmental sector for the last two and a half years. He has worked with Pahle India Foundation as a Research Associate. Prior to that he was working as a Research Associate for OneWorld South Asia. He has worked in different thematic areas under sustainable development and environmental issues such as urban transportation, waste management, responsible tourism, climate change. He also has valuable experience in working with international organizations like UNDP, World Bank. Anupam is a recent graduate in Tourism, Environment and Development from King's College London. Prior to this he has also done a Masters in Diplomacy, Law and Business from OP Jindal Global University and KU Leuven, Belgium. He also holds a BA Sociology (Honors) degree from Hindu College, Delhi University. His area of interest lies in Sustainable tourism, environmental conservation and renewable technology.

Anupam Hazarika can be reached at anupam.hazarika@pahleindia.org

Shagun Khurana - Senior Research Associate

Shagun Khurana currently works as a Senior Research Associate at Pahle India Foundation (PIF). She holds a Masters degree in Economics from Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune. She is pursuing her M.Phil. in Planning and Development from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Her broad areas of interest include macroeconomics, economic policy analysis, development and finance.